And do you care? Not one jot you don’t!
Remember my blog item on Birmingham PCT’s latest onslaught on the smoker (part of the worlds denormalisation of the non conformist smoker, which has yielded the most comments as well as over a thousand ‘day one’ page hits on this blog so far) and while you are reading this don’t forget the dirty filthy drinker, who have been on the “healthist” hitlist ever since they brought the UK smoking ban out, and thought they had us culled, not a bit of it!
The drinks industry must be quaking in their boots as they await similar treatment ( It has already started, as if you never noticed) by the righteous among us, you know them, they do not drink or smoke! I don’t blame the drinks industry for quaking in their boots, it is justified, they just know they are at the healthist’s mercy (as if they have not been here before, they have just forgotten,)…as are those that like a bit of junk food, just like you or I.
In disgust at the Birmingham PCT video below , Martin Thornton from Kent, sent this email to Ms. Brooks (he is just one of many):
Hello,
I will start by saying that I am a smoker, so was quite interested to see your latest campaign against smoking.
Do you really think that it's appropriate to show such violence against one particular group in society? The campaign is almost an incitement to violence against smokers. Which group will you target next? Alcohol users, the overweight, road users, the elderly? They all use up a lot of NHS resources.
What is the state of mind of the people who came up with such a bullying campaign?
I dread to think of how you might address teenage pregnancies!
I'm sure you'll try and justify this vile, hateful and sickening video, but can you justify my tax money being used in this way?
Martin Thornton
The grandiosely named Acting Head of Communications and Involvement (PR to you and me) commissar, Sally Brooks, using the full plethora of Chairman Mao’s little red book, and following the party line philosophy, when replying to Martin Thornton from Kent’s email, Sally Brooks rose up to her salary (which you paid for) and, the obviously under educated Ms. Brooks, not having a thought to the taxpayer, and your money, replied in the time honoured tradition of “on message” drivel my department needs more of the public’s money, I want my share of the public purse brigade, (ED: But did not say this.) So she replied to Martin thus:
Dear Mr Thornton,
I am writing in reference to your email of 22nd September 2009 in relation to the stop smoking campaign we have recently launched in NHS Birmingham East and North.
I am sorry to hear that you are not comfortable with the way in which we are targeting resources on smokers in our area. Perhaps an explanation of the wider campaign will put the Youtube film, which is just one part of the work we are doing, into context.
In east and north Birmingham the incidence of smoking is in some areas twice the national average – around four in ten. This means that men in our patch, who are disproportionately affected, die in some cases six years sooner than others, of devastating conditions such as heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. One in five people in this country die as a result of smoking, but in our area that figure is higher, and we are committed to supporting these communities to live healthier and longer lives.
The stop smoking campaign is aimed at hardened smokers who have so far been unaffected by previous advertising campaigns. We tested it thoroughly with focus groups, and feel we have created something that has a good chance of working. The video is just one part of a wider campaign that involves posters, billboards, leaflets and on-street marketing. These posters and leaflets will encourage smokers to text for support in giving up.
The campaign is indeed shocking, but so is the impact smoking has on the body. The aim of the campaign is to target men aged between 35 and 55 in our area. We want to demonstrate to them how much harm smoking does to them, and we have used violence to demonstrate this. In no way would we wish to incite violence of any kind against any members of our communities. Our priority is improving life expectancy.
As a local NHS trust, we are responsible for the health of our local community. We already know that smoking disproportionately affects our communities, so we feel it is absolutely the right thing to do to invest in a marketing campaign that hopefully will bring more people in touch with NHS Stop Smoking services. In stopping smoking, their lives will be extended, preventing a wide range of life threatening conditions. In our view, this is a responsible way to spend tax payers’ money.
Kind regards
Sally Brooks
Acting Head of Communications and Involvement
NHS Birmingham East and North
Bilge, pure bloody bilge!
